Proofer belt



rF. H. VAN HOUTEN.

PHooFER BELT. l [APPLICATION FILED APR. IT, 1918.

' PatenteSept. 5, 1922'.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

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F. H. VAN HOUTEN.

PRooFEREL. APPUCATIN FlLED APR. 17| 198. (1,427,869. PatentedSept. 5, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Patented Sent s, resa.

FRANK rr. van HOUTEN, oren-soon, New roars, .assreivon senioren-,Ess Toor. colarANY, or BnnooN, New Yoan, .a conrona'rroN or -Nnw YORK. f

rnoorma :entre Application ined `.api-i1 17, rele. serial No. 229,125.

To aZZ whom t may concern Be 1t known that I, FRANK H.

. HOUTEN, a citizen of the United States, re-

at Beacon, in the county of Dutchessv sidingy y and @tate of New York,.have/invented cere tain new and useful Improvements in Proofer Belts; and l do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, .and exact de simple and more 'eiiicient system oilk dough proofing than the knownl devices, this inf` vention being particularly an improvement on the dough-proofing cabinetshown in in prioiPatent No. 1,115,621 of November. 3, 1914.

A further object ot theinvention is Athe,

'substitution of a single pair of belts for the large number or belts shown in my prior patent, the substitutionk making it possible to automatically tighten the twobelts and to avoid the often excessive tightness renorder to cause the belt to adhere sulliciently to the driving roll to be propelled with its load. In the present system lthere are two driving rolls for each` reach of the belts, so that vthere is no occasiony for .the undue tightness of the 'Eormer'machines p A further object of the invention' is to provide an "improvedvertical elevator for delivering the ballsoitl dough tothe main proot'er belts, the improvementconsisting of the provision of spaced presser lingers `tor yieldably maintaining the slaclrbelt-` in Contact with the taut belt' and pressing yboth against the backing for the latter.l

j rlhe invention consists'in the combination Vand arrangements of the parts hereinafter described and particularly pointed out inthe appended claims. `l y j .y

eferring now to the accompanyingdrawingsm L y `Fig. 1 is a vertical longitudinal section through the two main proofe'r belts; l

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the device, showing particularly the auxiliary belts and Fig. 3 is a perspective View ofa portion ot the vertical elevator, and showingtwo of the spring-pressed fingers.

and rolls is madeup ofuprightsf27,

29 ,joined by longitudinal `'angle irons 30 at `their upper ends and secured to the base Vor l rlChe prooiingcabinet illustrated as 'formving 'the preferred construction of my Linventionin accordance with the present invention follows the unit', fschemefo the kproofing cabinet oi my prior` patent to permit maximum economy andv convenience in manufacturing the variousparts, but replaces the considerable" number of belts by two. similar endless belts 1 and 2 each provided with a gravity actingt'ension device hereinafter more particularly` described.

` -i These belts land 2 .may beident-ical in every respect, but are 'illustrated with the f slight differences which lare found advisable.

`As' shown, the beltsfform alternate reaches and l1 for conveyingy the` balls of dough bacl and forth from one endotlthe cabinet to ythe other for thetime requisite for proper proong of the dough, ythe yspeed otithe beltsbeing Uthat best suited tothe capacity l lor the bakery mechanism andthe number of reaches and the length oi" each being nter* dependently determinedk byl lthe time for prooiingv` andthe selected belt speed, the greater Lthe number of reaches the less the length or" each reach, the length of the belts n ybeing dependent upon these two factors," der-ed necessary 1n the older systems in 1 The driving mechanism for the two belts willnow be described. Power,A is applied to the shaft' 5 in anyv desired manner and is transmitted through pinion on each end ot shaft 5 lto large bevel gears? and 8 on `shafts.9,andf10. Shaft 9, .in addition to gear 7, carries asmall gear ,wheel 11'- 'anda small drive roll12`l which drives the lowermostreach of belt 2. y Gearwheel 11 drives theentire series of gears on onegsidefof the machine,f meshing with theidler 13 `on shaft 1a which ldirectly drives largegear wheels 14; 'and y15 on shafts land .17 and also a smaller gear. wheeliS ony shait 19, theflatter or belt 2, by means of adriveroll 26 similar to y12 and 20. 4 j l The framework supporting these gears 28 and floor ,in` any desired manner. Uprights 28 and 29 ycarry,",t'heunit panels 31 each panel `l'ormingthe bearingplate for a shaft for one of each ot the three kinds ot gears, one large and one small gear wheel and an idler, it`

being understood that the shafts on which these gearv wheels are mounted each carry a roll for driving the belt, the smaller rolls driving the upper or working stretch oi' a reach ot the belt and each larger roll driving the lower non-conveying stretch. lhese unit panels 31 are each provided on their inner edge with two transverse. brackets which cofoperate with longitudinal brackets 33 on central uprights 34 for vholding in place the backing plat`es35 for supporting the upper stretches ot the belts. rlhese backing plates 35 are readily detachable and replaceable, and each supports a conveying reach ot one or' the belts, each reach, as previously stated,

having two driving rolls, so thatthere are twice as many driving rolls as there are reaches. There will be as many sets or" uprights 34 as are rendered necessary by the length of the cabinet. A rod 36 preferably lconnects the members of each pair of central. uprights for each reach oi the belt and also serves to support the lower stretch of the belt. roller sleeves it desired.

lSetween the uprights 27 and 28 is located a pair of' vertical guides 37 in which freely slides a pair of journals 38 for a shaft 39 Icarrying a tightening roller 40 which by its weight maintains a suitable tension on the belt and holds it securely against the driving rolls, the entire weight of the roller and its `journal being supported by the belt alone. From the tightening roller 40 the belt passes to idle rolls 41 guiding the belts to the proper horizontal location. ldlhen the belt stretches the tightening roller sinks by gravityl andlreeps the belt taut at all times. When the roller 40 has reached nearly the bottom jot the guides 37 the belt is shortened sufliciently to again bring the roll`40 to the top of its upright guide.

Between the pinions 6 the shaft 5 carriesa belt rolly 42 driving a tight belt 43 which passes vertically upward from roll 42 along a vertical backing board 43 to a roll 44 and thence horizontally to roll 45 located Adirectly over the topr reach ot belt 2 near its lett side as viewed in Fig. 1. The belt passes from this roll back to the `drive roll 42, passing over roll 4G in proximity to roll 44. The latter roll iscarried on a shaft 47 on which is secured a gear wheel 4S mesh-l ing` with gear wheel 49 on shalt 50 which carries drive roll 51 for the loose belt 52 which extends around a roll 53 located near drive roll 42.

In order to keep these two belts 43 and 52 in contact the backing board 43 is provided with a plurality or arms 55, carrying at their outer ends a rod 56 on which is pivotally mounted a board or presser linger yieldably.

held inplace against the belts by either a These rods may be provided withv weight or by a spring 5T preferably surrounding tho rod 5G and having one ent 58 engaging the presser finger, while the other end is held in place by the arm 55. These iingers are the same width as the belt, and, as the dough is carried up between the two belts, these lingers 'form pockets in the outer belt which is lett slack enough to torni these pockets without pressing too hard against the dough.

One oi the idler rolls for each of the main belts isdriven, preferably the roll 41 between the tightener roll 40 and the unit sections 31, the drive being had by means of a sprocket chain 59 passing over sprocket wheel 60 and driven by sprocket wheel G1 on shaft G2.

A lower roll 63 is provided to maintain the bottom stretch ot the lower reach of each belt horizontal, and an additionalroll 64 is required on the lower of the two main belts, in this case belt l to lower the upper reach to lreep it horizontal and yet permit the tightener roller 40 to rise to the same height on each side. 1t will be noted that while only one ot the guide rolls on each side is driven, all the other rolls are positively driven, thus insu 1ing maximum eiiiciency ot the device.

. llllhat is claimed. is:

1.111 a proofing apparatus, the combination ot two endless belts, each consisting ot a plurality ot parallel reaches, certain of the reaches ot either belt being parallel to, spaced from and overlapping the adjacent reaches of the other belt, and yieldable means for holding Aeach of said belts taut.

9.. in endless belt consisting of a plurality et conveying reaches and a plurality of driving rolls therefor, the number of driving rolls exceeding the number of reaches.

3. in endless belt consisting of a plurality oft' conveying reaches and a plurality ot driving rolls therefor, the number ol' .driving rolls being double the number of reaches.

4. A. unit for an expansible proofing machine oi the type using two belts having alternate reaches, said unit including a small roll for supporting :i reach ot one oit' said belts, a large drive roll ttor supporting a reach ot the other ot said belts, a pair ot paced members in which said rolls are 6. A unit tor an expansible proofing mai chine oi the type using two belts having horizontal alternate reaches, said unit including a small roll for supporting a reach oi one of said belts, a second roll having its axis parallel to the axis of the irst mentioned roll and lying in the same horizontal plane therewith, said second roll supporting a reach of the other of said belts, a pair or' spaced members in which said rolls are mounted, and means also mounted in said members for transmitting motion to one of said belts. f

7. A unit or an expansible proofing machine of the type using two belts having alternate reaches, said unit including a plurality of parallel panels supporting between them a drive roll for one of said belts, a smaller roll for the other of said belts, and gearing for transmitting power to said drive roll from the roller of an adjacent unit.

8. In an eXpansible proong machine of the type using two separate belts, a frame, a plurality of rolls mounted in said frame, and a plurality of interchangeable units, each of said units including a plurality of spaced members carrying a roll :tor one o said belts, a smaller roll for the other of said belts, and means for transmitting power from an adjacent unit to one of said rolls.

9. In an eXpansible proofing machine of the type using two` separate belts, a frame, a plurality of rolls mounted in said iframe, and a plurality of interchangeable units, each including a plurality of parallel panels supporting between one of said belts, a smaller roll for the other of said belts, and gearing for transthem a drive roll for mitting power to said drive roll from the roll of anadjacent section.

ll0. An interchangeable unit for an eX- pansible prooiing vmachine ofthe type using parallel belt reaches `for conveying the dough balls; said unit consistingot a plurality of rolls having their axeslinl a plane parallel to the plane of ing for transmitting motion to said reaches,

plurality of transverse brackets for supporting backing plates for said conveying reaches, and means `for supporting said rolls, said gearing and said brackets.

11N/.Ln eXpansible prooiing cabinet consisting of a plurality or' uprights, a plurality of panels secured to saidy uprights, transversely mounted rolls supported by certain of said panels, a plurality of unit panels secured to said uprights adjacent to the first mentioned panels, a plurality of belts, and rolls e mounted between each pair of unit panels, said reaches, means for tensioning said belts, and means for driving certain of said rolls.

12. In an eXpansible proofing cabinet, a

belt divided into a plurality of reaches, a plurality of superposed units, a drive roll for each reach mounted in each of said units, a second plurality of superposed units spaced horizontally Jrom said iirst mentioned units, and a plurality of readily detachable and replaceable members between said sets of units for supporting said reaches yand for spacing said sets of units the desireddis! tance apart.

FRANK l-l.r VAN HOUTEN.

the conveying reaches, gear? rolls dividing said belts into'` 

